The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from their independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, where appropriate to inform regulatory decisions.

The presence of a report on the adverse incident database does not necessarily demonstrate a causal relationship between the device and the event reported. The reported event may be attributable to patient, user, or other factors. As such, the data should not be regarded as a summary of confirmed adverse reactions to the device and should be interpreted with caution.

Adverse incidents are classified using the terminology developed by the International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF), with further information available at the following link:

https://www.imdrf.org/

This provides a standardised approach to coding information, including medical device malfunctions and patient or user outcomes. Annex A of the IMDRF coding system contains the codes used to describe medical device problems and malfunctions reported in adverse incident reports, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.imdrf.org/working-groups/adverse-event-terminology/annex-medical-device-problem

The following table shows the number of Yellow Card reports reporting IMDRF Annex A code A1105 – Computer System Security Problem in 2024, 2025, and 2026 until 14 July:

The Department’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating, and maintaining automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that are managed outside of the National Health Service, including in the Romford constituency.

There are over 110,000 defibrillators registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database, and over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years. Additionally, decisions on the provision of first aid equipment are generally taken locally by communities, organisations, and site owners.

The NHS Supply Chain is committed to ensuring that its procurement arrangements support competition, innovation, and value for money for the National Health Service, while remaining compliant with the Procurement Act 2023 and other applicable legislation.

The NHS Supply Chain uses a range of commercial models to support market access and publishes a forward pipeline of anticipated procurement activity covering an 18 month period, providing suppliers with early visibility of upcoming opportunities and sufficient time to prepare to compete. Decisions regarding the structure and duration of framework agreements are taken following consideration of market conditions, competition, supply resilience, operational requirements, and the needs of NHS customers. Where appropriate, the NHS Supply Chain engages with trade associations and suppliers at an early stage to ensure category strategies are informed by market capability and to identify opportunities to improve access for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Procurement Act 2023 provides a range of commercial tools, including more flexible arrangements where appropriate, and the NHS Supply Chain considers these options during sourcing strategy development. Procurement approaches are regularly reviewed to ensure they continue to support innovation, effective competition, and the adoption of technologies that deliver benefits for patients and the wider NHS.

The NHS Supply Chain's engagement with health technology SMEs, including through its SME Engagement Forum and the NHS England SME Playbook, helps identify emerging innovations and informs procurement strategies so that future opportunities reflect developments in the market and evolving clinical needs. To support SME participation, the NHS Supply Chain works directly with SME suppliers through its bi-monthly SME Engagement Forum, which provides a mechanism for SMEs to raise challenges and help co-design improvements to procurement processes.

The National Health Service is committed to reducing waste, whilst also delivering cost savings and minimising environmental impact, as set out in the Delivering a Net Zero NHS report. Since the publication of the report in 2020, there have been substantial improvements in the number of locally managed walking aid refurbishment and reuse schemes.

A range of resources and communications tools are available to support NHS trusts and patients with returns. This includes the Recycle Now website, where patients can check their nearest drop off location by postcode. As well as hospitals, NHS England has also established systems for walking aid return at waste and recycling centres in collaboration with local authority partners. Some trusts have offered home collection services for reusable walking aids in partnership with local authorities, however such services are less prevalent compared to schemes that utilise drop-off sites.

Additionally, the Design for Life Roadmap sets out the Government’s plan to tackle NHS medical technology waste through a circular economy. The ambition is that by 2045 the NHS will have transitioned away from all avoidable single-use medical products to a system that preserves the value of products for as long as possible. This will drive cost savings, resilience, economic growth, and sustainability by maximising the reuse, remanufacture, and recycling of medical technology, which includes products such as walking aids and other assistive equipment. Further information can be found at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap

The Government is committed to investing in replacing outdated scanners. The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. This funding will deliver new community diagnostic centres to increase system capacity in diagnostic services, new scanners in acute hospital settings, as well as replacement of the oldest computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.

Aged scanner replacement is one of the areas the Government is investing in over the next four years. Many National Health Service trusts have submitted schemes to NHS England for consideration to replace CT, MRI, and non-obstetric ultrasound scanners as well as other types of diagnostic equipment. NHS England’s criteria for approval considers the age of the current scanners, the impact on diagnostics, Referral to Treatment, and cancer performance, benefits of replacement, including productivity gain, and value for money.

The Government is also supporting investment in artificial intelligence acceleration software for MRI machines which speeds up scanner acquisition time without degradation of image quality.

The number of computed tomography (CT) scanners and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners in National Health Service hospitals is published by the National Imaging Data Collection (NIDC) asset register.

The published NIDC data does not cover data from 2015 or 2020, but the latest published data shows that there were 656 MRI scanners and 757 CT scanners across England in 2024/25. The publications for 2022/23 to 2024/25 can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/national-imaging-data-collection/

The 2025/26 NIDC closes for submissions shortly, with publication of this data expected later this year. Published data is shown by NHS provider, both acute and specialist NHS trusts, by integrated care board, and by imaging network.

National Health Service medical services are free at the point of use for the patient, as the system is taxpayer funded, although patients might be charged for some NHS services, for example, dental treatment, prescriptions, glasses, wigs, and fabric supports. Patients might not have to pay for these services if they receive certain benefits or are on low incomes.

The NHS website sets out what contributions patients are required to make for medical equipment and treatment, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/when-you-need-to-pay-towards-nhs-care/

For patients receiving universal credit or on low incomes, financial help with those costs may be available. Information on the NHS Low Income Scheme and how to apply can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/help-with-health-costs/

The Government has not announced plans for a separate ring-fenced funding stream for community-based in-vitro diagnostic services. Integrated care boards are responsible for determining how allocated funding is used to meet local population needs, including for diagnostic services and community diagnostic centres (CDCs).

CDCs offer patients a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home, giving greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing the need for hospital visits and supporting timely diagnosis and treatment. CDCs provide a range of in-vitro diagnostic services and are a key part of the Government’s aim to shift care out of hospitals and into communities.

The National Cancer Plan set out a £2.3 billion investment to expand diagnostic capacity and deliver 9.5 million additional tests. This includes increasing the number of CDCs and ensuring that as many as possible are open 12 hours a day and seven days a week, improving access to diagnostic services in local communities.

Passengers are allowed to carry essential medicines in hand luggage alongside proof that the medication is prescribed to the individual travelling (for example a doctor’s letter or a copy of the prescription).

With respect to the carriage of syringes and auto-injectors, while these can be carried in hand-luggage, these items may need to be checked separately at airport security and it is also advisable to contact the airline in advance of travel to check if there are any additional requirements.

Commercial airlines must carry approved medical kits and cabin crew must regularly undertake first aid training.

The total spend on medical devices on the Specialised Services Devices Programme list in 2025/26 was £1,093,622,000. The total budget for the Specialised Services Devices Programme in 2025/26 was £1,012,198,000. The forecasted spend on medical devices in the Specialised Services Devices Programme for 2026/27 is £1,212,135,000.

The total spend on medical devices on the Specialised Services Devices Programme list in 2025/26 was £1,093,622,000. The total budget for the Specialised Services Devices Programme in 2025/26 was £1,012,198,000. The forecasted spend on medical devices in the Specialised Services Devices Programme for 2026/27 is £1,212,135,000.

NHS Supply Chain’s Non-Invasive Ventilation and Sleep Therapy Framework was renewed and relaunched in September 2025. As part of this procurement exercise, pricing submissions were sought from all participating suppliers across the full range of devices and consumables, which included continuous positive airway pressure consumables.

The renewal also incorporated additional service offerings, such as mask resupply, providing National Health Service trusts with expanded contract and pricing options. This procurement process ensured that the pricing of all products and services was formally reviewed as part of a competitive exercise, whilst also evaluating the clinical quality to support positive patient outcomes.

In December 2024, NHS England wrote to all radiotherapy treatment providers inviting them to apply for funding to replace ageing radiotherapy machines. Funding was then allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England developed. These criteria focused on the age of the machine being replaced, the proportion of older machines in use within the trust, and the trust’s performance on radiotherapy.

The Government announced the allocation of new radiotherapy linear accelerator, or LINAC, machines on 26 May 2025, and within this, a breakdown of trust allocation was given and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-cancer-treatment-thanks-to-new-radiotherapy-machines

The following table shows allocations by National Health Service region:

The Department knows that there is a long way to go to improve waiting times for radiotherapy treatment, and that there is significant regional variation in performance. The National Cancer Plan has set out how we intend to tackle these issues, reduce backlogs and provide an NHS that there is when people need it.

In December 2024, NHS England wrote to all radiotherapy treatment providers inviting them to apply for funding to replace ageing radiotherapy machines. Funding was then allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England developed. These criteria focused on the age of the machine being replaced, the proportion of older machines in use within the trust, and the trust’s performance on radiotherapy.

The Government announced the allocation of new radiotherapy linear accelerator, or LINAC, machines on 26 May 2025, and within this, a breakdown of trust allocation was given and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-cancer-treatment-thanks-to-new-radiotherapy-machines

The following table shows allocations by National Health Service region:

The Department knows that there is a long way to go to improve waiting times for radiotherapy treatment, and that there is significant regional variation in performance. The National Cancer Plan has set out how we intend to tackle these issues, reduce backlogs and provide an NHS that there is when people need it.

In December 2024, NHS England wrote to all radiotherapy treatment providers inviting them to apply for funding to replace ageing radiotherapy machines. Funding was then allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England developed. These criteria focused on the age of the machine being replaced, the proportion of older machines in use within the trust, and the trust’s performance on radiotherapy.

The Government announced the allocation of new radiotherapy linear accelerator, or LINAC, machines on 26 May 2025, and within this, a breakdown of trust allocation was given and can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/faster-cancer-treatment-thanks-to-new-radiotherapy-machines

The following table shows allocations by National Health Service region:

The Department knows that there is a long way to go to improve waiting times for radiotherapy treatment, and that there is significant regional variation in performance. The National Cancer Plan has set out how we intend to tackle these issues, reduce backlogs and provide an NHS that there is when people need it.